


The Ultimate Con

by Mums_the_Word



Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 18:48:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1097395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mums_the_Word/pseuds/Mums_the_Word
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place after the episode "No Good Deed" Season 5</p><p>Neal is hurt, confused and angry regarding Peter's new cold, moralistic attitude.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ultimate Con

When Neal first starting working as a criminal consultant for the FBI under Peter Burke’s supervision, the whole White Collar team was placing bets on when it would all implode. Peter thought that he should have gotten himself in on the wagering as well, since he figured it was only a matter of time before Neal cut and ran. Neal would have agreed with him wholeheartedly. As far as he was concerned, this was a temporary situation until the right opportunity presented itself. After all, he had other places to be and a damsel in distress to save.

So, he let Peter drag him around like a reluctant puppy on a leash and bided his time. He made nice with the White Collar team. Jones was a laid back okay kind of guy who, more times than not, just shook his head and grinned at Neal’s antics. Dianna Berrigan was a whole other entity. It didn’t pay to piss her off, but Neal was like a kid who just had to poke a stick into a hornet’s nest. Although Dianna always threatened physical harm, luckily she hadn’t carried it out yet. Peter’s boss, Hughes, made it plain that he just barely tolerated Neal’s presence. But that was okay. Better people than Reese Hughes had it in for Neal during the conman’s short life.

Yes, Neal reasoned, the temporary hiatus from crimes was just that, temporary. So, for a time, he straddled two worlds. He found that he enjoyed matching wits with the bad guys, but occasionally “he” was one of the bad guys as he masterminded and implemented numerous and sundry capers with Mozzie’s aiding and abetting. Peter always managed to unearth Neal’s sins, but he merely smacked the young criminal with a newspaper rather than putting him back in a cage.

Neal had a hard time figuring out this whole dynamic with his handler. Neither lawman nor convict really trusted the other, yet they had each other’s back time and time again. It had been Neal who had missed a step on the tarmac that day, indecision making his plan to leave falter. It had been Peter who held a quaking, crying man to his chest as an inferno raged on the runway. Then there was the treasure trove from the submarine that they almost couldn’t come back from. But somehow Neal stuck around with Peter as a constant in his life until it was his very mentor who released him for his own protection. Amazingly, it was also Peter who flew half way around the world to make it right.

Neal had trouble identifying his true feelings much less aspirations anymore. Peter’s iron hand was sheathed in a velvet glove, and it was so confusing. But Neal was a smart guy, and a few years into his sentence, Neal experienced a cataclysmic epiphany. He didn’t want to be a criminal anymore. He wanted a life like Peter Burke’s, with a wife, a dog and a picket fence. Mozzie was exasperated with him, as well he should be. Even Neal was a little embarrassed by the plebian wish that was now uppermost in his mind. He wanted to be like Peter……… ethical, empathetic, and on the right side of the law. Peter had become so much more than his handler; he had become a friend.

Now Neal wasn’t so sure which end was up. The “friend” had turned against him…or at least that’s how it seemed. Maybe it had always been one ironic con that Neal never saw coming, and he didn’t know if he was angrier with himself or Peter. Neal just knew that he couldn’t keep losing little pieces of himself because eventually he’d cease to exist.

He’d survived too many traumas in his life to just throw in the towel. Maybe his initial plan of biding his time and making a clean break was the way to go. He’d give himself a few more days to think it through, but he had realistic expectations. At the end of the day, there were no happy endings for guys like him.

**Author's Note:**

> I certainly hope that the show will eventually get back to the sweet bromance of previous seasons. I do not like "my" beloved characters being torn apart.


End file.
